An assessment of the response to the 2008-2009 drought in Kenya

This report reviews the response to the drought in six arid and semi arid land districts in
Kenya. The report first characterizes the severity of the drought and reviews how well its
impacts were forecasted in the Early Warning Bulletins (EWB). Satellite imagery,
detecting failures in rangeland up greening, revealed that the 2008-2009 drought had
been most severe in Kajiado and Laikipia. These emergencies were not reflected by the
EWB warning stages. Recommendations are given to improve the EWB forecasting
capacity.
The report provides a systematic report of 474 livestock based interventions carried out
during the 2008-2009 drought in six arid and semi arid districts in Kenya. It reviews the
timeliness, effectiveness, the livelihood implications and the appropriateness of these
interventions and assesses to what extent local communities had been involved in their
development and implementation. The report shows that the number of livestock related
interventions and the funding associated to this has increased considerably compared to
the interventions carried out during the 2000 drought. Some of the interventions were
considered ineffective and inappropriate, and the report advises on which livestock
related interventions to implement during drought.